We Are Part of a Much Bigger Plan

We are a mere 12 days away from kicking off our sixth youth camp in Scotland. We've planned and prayed and prayed and planned some more. Making name tags. Designing camp t-shirts. Organized various activities and talks. The flight to the UK cannot come soon enough to unpack all of the ideas we have and to be a part of what the Lord has in store for us as a team but, more importantly, for the Scottish students who are coming to camp. Amid the busyness of it all, we can get caught up in lists of things to purchase and pack and how many clothes we can fit in one suitcase without exceeding the airline's weight limit. But the bottom line is that we are part of something far greater at work. Something that a woman named Jean Darnall saw in a vision about 45 years ago.

Jean Darnall was a missionary in Thailand with her husband. In 1967, when the Lord called them to Thailand, her husband went on ahead of her. She knew people in England, so she went and spent some time there before going over full time in Thailand. She had no ties to Scotland -- just was a woman who walked with and lived her life through the Spirit. And during that time, the Lord gave her a vision, and here is her account of that vision.

"During those weeks a vision came to me. It appeared three different times, during prayer, and it was the same vision each time. And what I saw was the British Isles, as in a bird's eye view. A kind of haze was over the whole, like a green fog. And then little pinpricks of light began to appear from the top of Scotland to Land's End (south England). Then the Lord seemed to draw me closer to these lights, and I saw that they were fires that were burning. They were multiplying from the top of Scotland to Land's End. Then I saw lightening come and strike those fires, the brightest spots particularly, and there was a kind of explosion, and rivers of fire flowed down. Again, the sense of direction was from the top of Scotland to Land's End. But some of those rivers of fire didn't stop there. They went right across the Channel and spread out into the Continent."

Phase One: The Glowing Fires

The Lord impressed it on my heart that those fires I saw were groups of people whom He wound make intensely hungry fro New Testament Christianity. They would start reading their Bibles and saying, for instance, as they read the book of Acts, 'Well, where is this happy church? Where are these people so full of the power of the Holy Spirit? Where are these miracles? Where is this growth, this vitality, this courage, this boldness that these people had? Is that for today-can we have it today? Should the church be this way?'

And these questions were being planted in their hearts, the Lord Jesus said He would make them very hungry for the Holy Spirit; He would fill them with the Holy Spirit, and out of those gifts would flow ministries that would enrich the Body of Christ. The whole concept of the Body of Christ would come alive, and barriers between denominations and different types of Christians would break down as people met each other. The Lord said He would move these people all over the country. After he had taught them gifts, He would move them to another place where they would carry that fire, and where they would meet others also who were being renewed by the Holy Spirit. He would put them in different situations from what they were used to, so that they would get to know people of other denominations, other cultures and other classes, and be able to communicate to them the blessings that the Lord had given them. And then He told me that during that time He would also test them. There would be great testing of faith, great waiting times. He would teach them spiritual warfare. He would show them the meaning of the power of the blood of Jesus, the Name of Jesus, the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Phase Two: The Coming of the Lightening

Then I asked the Lord, 'What does the lightening stand for?' And He said, 'Unlike the first part, in which I will be speaking to Christians and preparing My church and renewing it and reviving the saints, the lightening represents a second part of the vision, in which I will bring a spiritual awakening to the nation that will be a witness to the unsaved, to the unchurched, to the non-Christian.

Through these believers I will bring a witness to this land. They will be an army of witnesses. And I will begin to release their ministries so that when they give their testimonies there will be apostolic signs following and accompanying their testimonies. Where ears have been deaf and hearts have been hard and eyes have been blind, I will touch the people of this land and they will begin to hear the testimony of My people, they will begin to see the manifestations of My power, and their hearts will begin to believe. Thousands and thousands of people are going to come into My kingdom through this army of witnesses, through this people movement - not characterized by any particular evangelist or great organization at the front, but just My people rising up, led by My Spirit and beginning to move forward with a new faith for evangelism, a new zeal to share Jesus with others. And as they give their testimonies, I will release their ministries of healing and miracles, and there will be signs and wonders accompanying their ministries. So many people will be saved, in the villages as well as in the cities, in the schools, in the government, in media, in industry. It will affect the destiny of this nation; it will determine the course of the times.

Phase Three: Streams across the Channel

Then I said, 'Lord, what about these streams that go on across the Channel into Europe?' And He said, 'That represents people who will rise up in the midst of this people movement, this army of witnesses in Britain, whom I will make My communicators.' Now I hadn't used that word very much before in my ministry I said, 'Lord, what do You mean by communicators?' And He said, 'They will not only be people endowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, with strong faith, but they will also be people talented in the arts. They will be writers, musicians, singers and actors, and also technicians in television, radio and the mass media. I will call and send them and put them in strategic places. I will bless their natural talents with My Spirit, and they will be good: they will excel. They will be leaders in the media, and through them I will release the Word of God very fast in Europe. The result will be another wave of a spiritual awakening, with thousands coming to Christ throughout Europe.'

A Revelation From Heaven

And one day, between lunch and the afternoon session, I said to our team, 'Let's just pray before we go upstairs. Suddenly the Spirit of God came upon me. I began to weep and weep, and strong crying came upon my heart, real, deep sobs. I knew that the Spirit of God had brought the Lord's burden upon me. And I said, 'Lord, what is this? It's something very important.'

One word He spoke to me: Scotland."

Jean maintained that the young people of Scotland would play a huge part in the fruition of this vision. We have a part to play in that during our short stints in Scotland. We come each year expecting the Lord to do mighty works in the lives of the students at camp. And He does. Even when things don't go the way we thought they would, we have peace because we know that we are part of a much bigger plan.